François Miron (born 1962) is a French-Canadian experimental filmmaker also working in documentary and fiction. Early life Miron was born in Montreal in 1962. Education He obtained a BFA from Concordia University in 1987 and an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990 (he received a full merit scholarship). Filmmaking career Miron started making Super-8 Collage films in 1982, inspired by the cut-up technique William S. Burroughs, soon shifting to 16mm and 35mm. His early body of work consists of found footage manipulation through optical printing and abstract cinematography of industrial landscapes. His abstract work has lately been shifting into more "traditional" narrative cinema and documentary, although a strong psychedelic and surreal influence still is present. Miron still makes short experimental films while working on his feature films or in between them. Most of his films have been exhibited worldwide and have won several awards. His early films are in the tradition of Pat O'Neill who was the pioneer of experimental optical printing films in the 1960s and 1970s and is still active to this day. Other links have been made to Paul Sharits, Stan Brakhage, Norman McLaren and in painting to Jackson Pollock Selected works "4X Horizontal, 4X Vertical" 1986 In a room, Miron piles boxes against a wall film screen. The images projected on it quickly rush together:automobile accidents, Tuscan landscapes, an injured man, medical experiments intercut with smoking factories, a sleeping face. Miron moves the boxes about constantly, as if feeding a burning fire. Awarded Best Experimental Film Montreal World Film Festival (Student Section). At the original screening of the film at The World Film Festival, the sound was so loud that the projection booth window broke; the projectionist stopped the projection but the judges insisted that they see the film again. Documentary filmmaker Peter Wintonick wrote an article about this in Cinema Canada. He also interviewed Miron about his filmmaking activities (the magazine was defunct in 1989). The Conservatoire D'Art Cinematographique in Montreal requested that the film be put in their archives. There is also a print at The Canadian Film Archives in Ottawa. "What Ignites Me, Extinguishes me" 1990 Shot in abandoned factories of Chicago and using complex color separation method to illustrate isolation and despair, the film won Best Experimental at the Illinois Film & Video Artist Film Festival Chicago in 1990 the film was called "visually intoxicating" in